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The Foresight Institute is one of the primary sources for information on nanotechnology (it was formed to prepare for nanotechnology). The Foresight Update contains articles and materials about new developments in the fields involved in nanotechnology. It's address is:
The Foresight Institute, Department U
P.O. Box 61058
Palo Alto, CA 94306 USA
Phone: 415-324-2490
WWW: http://www.foresight.org
Email: inform@foresight.org
The Institute for Molecular Manufacturing is a nonprofit foundation founded to carry out research aimed at molecular manufacturing [2].
The Molecular Manufacturing Shortcut Group (MMSG) is a chapter of the National Space Society (NSS). MMSG's motto: promote the development of nanotechnology as a means to facilitate the settlement of space. The MMSG has a position paper for the National Space Society on Space and Molecular Nanotechnology also.
The Los Angeles Nanotechnology Study Group has a page on the Web also.
The NASA-JSC Area Nanotechnology Study Group is located in Houston and has several significant members such as Richard Smalley at Rice, Dr Ken Cox from NASA, and Al Globus from NASA Ames. There is also a European mirror site.
The Nanocomputer Dream Team has a site explaining its goals and purpose.
The Beverly Hills Foundation for Nanotechnology research--I found this scholarship information online, but have no web site for it. The Beverly Hills Foundation for Nanotechnology Research Scholarship- Awards range from $5,000 to $40,000. Applicants must be seniors planning to enroll in any university, college, or trade school. No specific major field is required, but applicants must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher. For additional information, write to Beverly Hills Foundation for Nanotechnology Research, 505 South Beverly Drive, Suite #869, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Deadline- May 15.
Zyvex is a well funded startup working on developing nanotechnology.
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) is researching nanotechnology and has a nanotechnology site maintained by Ralph Merkle.
Nanothinc was the first corporation I know of that deals directly with nanotechnology as its primary business focus, but as far as I know it went out of business
Molecular Manufacturing Enterprises Inc. provides seed capital for the development of nanotechnology.
NanoPowders Industries manufactures nanosized metal powders such as Silver Powder and several real silver alloy powders (Silver/Copper, Silver/Palladium, Silver/Aluminium).
Digital Instruments is a leading source for Scanning Probe Microscopy.
Park Scientific Instruments makes Scanning Probe Microscopes also.
Topometrix is the third source I've found on the Web for Scanning Probe Microscopes.
Nanomechanics LLC will offer a software product for SFM force spectroscopy interpretation.
Engines of
Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology
by K. Eric Drexler (Anchor, 1986)
ISBN: 0-385-19972-2
This book was the definition of the original charter of sci.nanotech. Popularly written, it introduces assemblers,
and discusses the various social and technical implications nanotechnology might have [1].
Available in Britain from Fourth Estate, and in Japan from Personal Media (under the title Machines That Create:
Nanotechnology) [3].
Unbounding
the Future: The Nanotechnology Revolution
by K. Eric Drexler, Chris Peterson, and Gayle Pergamit (Morrow, 1991)
ISBN: 0-688-09124-5
Essentially an update of Engines, with a better low-level description of how nanomachines might work, and less
speculation on space travel, cryonics, etc [1].
Nanosystems:
Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation
by K. Eric Drexler (Wiley, 1992)
ISBN: 0-471-57518-6
This is the technical book that grew out of Drexler's PhD thesis. It is a real tour de force that provides a *substantial*
theoretical background for nanotech ideas [1]. For a more complete analysis of Nanosystems,
there is a page at Ralph Merkle's nanotechnology site with a large amount of information about it, including its
table of contents.
Prospects
in Nanotechnology: Toward Molecular Manufacturing
edited by Markus Krummenacker and James Lewis (Wiley, 1995)
ISBN: 0-471-30914-1
This covers the First Foresight General Conference. It contains many of the papers presented (generally, the more
technical ones), and offers a compelling look at the current status of many enabling technologies and a future
shaped by nanotechnology.
Nano!
by Ed Regis (Little, Brown 1995)
ISBN:
This describes the researchers involved in nanotechnology, and the reactions of different members of the scientific
community to the concept.
Nanomedicine
by Robert A. Freitas Jr.
This is an upcoming technical book on the converging areas between nanotechnology and medicine.
Nanotechnology Journal from the Institute of Physics Publishing covers nanotechnology both as used here and in the broader sense. It has had a special issue for each of the Foresight Conferences on Molecular Nanotechnology and is well worth reading [2].
Nanotechnology Magazine is a monthly publication that has a nice page covering the emerging science of nanotechnology, with "articles for the intelligent lay person and scientist" [4].
The Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design may be of interest for the development of modeling systems for nanotechnology designs.
The Foresight Update is a newsletter published by the Foresight Institute and is an excellent way to keep abreast of developments and events in this rapidly moving area. [2].
Size Matters: Nanotechnology and the Battle to Build Smaller by Noah Robischon. This article is from the Discovery Channel Online. I think it's good; it doesn't pull any punches in stating the facts currently known about nanotechnology.
There's Plenty of Room at
the Bottom by Richard Feynman
A classic 1959 article discussing the limits of miniaturization that predicted the ability to arrange atoms [2].
Overview of Nanotechnology adapted by J. Storrs Hall from papers by K. Eric Drexler and Ralph Merkle. This is from the sci.nanotech website
Atomic and Molecular Scale Manipulation Using the Scanneling Tunneling and Atomic Force Microscope by Richard Terra. This article was previously hosted at Nanothinc--I will try to find or provide a source for it again.
Advanced Automation
for Space Missions
a 1980 NASA study which provides a good introduction to self replicating systems [2]
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Fullerene-based Nanoscale GearsThe link for this article no longer works. I will try and find a source for this article again.
Self Replicating Systems and Molecular Manufacturing
Molecular Manufacturing: Adding Positional Control to Chemical Synthesis
Steps Towards Molecular Manufacturing discusses the design of molecular building blocks that could be used in conjunction with positional control in solution to build a useful range of non-diamondoid structures, including early assemblers [2]. This article was previously hosted at Nanothinc--I will try and find a new source for it.
Computational Nanotechnology discusses the idea of using computer simulation to speed the development of this new technology [2].
A Proof About Molecular Bearings
Design Considerations for an Assembler discusses the design of a "simple" diamondoid assembler.
Cornell's Scitech Magazine has a special issue on nanotechnology with the following articles:
Wired previously had a few pages discussing nanotechnology. They have moved, but I haven't looked them up again yet. Here is what they were about:
The Construction and Utilization of Space Filling Polyhedra for Active Mesostructures is a document by Forrest Bishop concerning a collection of mesoscopic, similar machines, built by nanotechnology methods.
Thomas McCarthy has an interesting document entitled Molecular Nanotechnology and the World System.
Hypertext Publishing and the Evolution of Knowledge is a paper by K. Eric Drexler. There may be an online link to this--the previous link I had is gone.
The MMSG has a position paper for the National Space Society on Space and Molecular Nanotechnology also.
There's a page from John Walker on Nanotechnology in Manufacturing.
Nanotechnology: Manipulating Atoms One by One, by Robert Kulagowski and Loretta Kulagowski. A text on nanomachines. I have to find a new link to this paper if it's still on the web.
Theoretical Applied Science by Nick Szabo. This text deals with nanotechnology and theoretical applied science. I will try to find a link to this paper online.
A contrarians view, authored by Brad Cox, as to why nanotechnology might not be achievable--I may need to update this description. There are also links available to some sites.
Ralph Merkle has a new version of the planetary gear illustrated in Nanosystems on pages 311 and 312.
Ralph Merkle also has an article on reversible computing.
See Bibliographies
Scanning tunneling microscopy at IBM Almaden has images of several structures built by positioning individual atoms [2].
Construct has a really cool page with nanotechnology VRML models that it made for the Fourth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology pictures for a bearing used to be at the Aeiveos Corporation home page. Aeiveos is a biotechnology research and education company. I am trying to find out if it still exists.
Carol Shaw's Molecular Assembly Sequence Software (MASS) for the Macintosh aids in the design of sequences of site-specific chemical reactions to be used in the synthesis of complex diamondoid structures and can read and display PDB format files. I no longer have a link to it, but I am trying to find one. [2].
Bibliography of Popular/Mass Media Articles on Nanotechnology by Richard Terra
The Nanotechnology in Science Fiction home page has a list and rating of science fiction books, etc. and their nanotechnology content.
These sites provide access to more nanotechnology resources on the web. Some are primarily lists of links, while others give a more in-depth coverage of nanotechnology. There will be a few sites duplicated from higher up on the page, but I've tried to keep the duplicates to a minimum.
The Foresight Institute has a web site with more nanotechnology information.
Robert Freitas is writing a guide to nanomedicine.
The newsgroup sci.nanotech has a homepage with nanotechnology papers from the Foresight Institute (the sci.nanotech homepage is maintained by Josh Hall, and it has an ftp site also).
The NAS Computational Molecular Nanotechnology resource at NASA contains a large number of papers, a gallery, and links.
Nanolink is a page at the National University of Singapore that maintains a list of key nanotechnology sites.
Ralph Merkle's Nanotechnology Site at Xerox PARC is one of the most comprehensive nanotechnology sites on the web.
Sean Morgan also maintains a fairly comprehensive nanotechnology page.
Future Quest had a half-hour show on nanotechnology accessible
to a mass audience. Future Quest is a PBS television series about how we will live in the world of tomorrow. Previously
there was a web site for the show, but I don't know if a site still exists. [2].
Please send comments to me at bradhein@hotmail.com.